Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.43.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Cfra Research raised their price objective on Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus reduced their target price on Bank of America from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Bank of America from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th.

Bank of America Price Performance

NYSE BAC opened at $37.44 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $284.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Bank of America has a 52-week low of $33.07 and a 52-week high of $48.08.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $27.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.83 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 10.29% and a net margin of 14.10%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.95%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc increased its position in shares of Bank of America by 3,883.2% in the fourth quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc now owns 559,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 545,936 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.